84 pages • 2 hours read
Angie CruzDominicana
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
The Apartment
At times, Ana and Juan’s apartment in Harlem acts as Ana’s prison. Juan doesn’t allow her to leave the apartment, and the only images she has of her new city is the view outside her window. The apartment acts as a prison because it is also where Juan abuses Ana and sequesters her into her domestic duties. On the other hand, the apartment is also a symbol of their American Dream. The apartment has utilities that are unimaginable in Santo Domingo, and Ana cares for the apartment with pride. Though she misses her Dominican neighbors, she discovers that the solitude of apartment life gives her the space to create her own home out of a new and strange place. The apartment is an environment of pain and love. It is where she and César have sex, and where Ana brings home her newborn baby. The apartment is therefore both a prison and a haven.
Ana’s Unborn Child
Before Altagracia is born, she is a symbol for the American Dream and Ana’s freedom from self. Away from her family, with no friends to occupy her days, Ana has too much time to think about her loneliness. When she gets pregnant, she has the promise of a potential friend and ally. She will be able to speak Spanish with her baby, care for her, and raise her to be better than Ana is. This potential inspires Ana to persevere through Juan’s abuse and her own lack of stimulation. Her unborn child represents a promising future that transcends Ana’s current unhappiness. The unborn baby also represents the next step in the American Dream. While Ana may feel like a stranger in America, her baby will be American, paving the way for a deeper understanding of American cultures and norms. Through her baby, Ana will learn how to understand her new country.
Pastelitos and Arepitas
Ana’s business is a symbol for independence and preservation of culture. Cooking and selling pastelitos and arepitas gives Ana her own money that she can save and use for her own goals, a fund that Juan doesn’t need to know about. Ana’s entrepreneurial spirit parallels the values of capitalist America in that Ana has a niche market that she can work towards using for financial freedom. This work also gives Ana a sense of pride and self-confidence. It helps her learn her potential to work outside of the home with a product that she enjoys creating. It is notable that the food is Dominican because Ana doesn’t have to give up her culture to be successful in America. Instead, Ana preserves and celebrates her culture by cooking and selling pastelitos and arepitas.
